Caretaker prime minister PML-N decides to send matter to parliamentary committee

As the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the recently dissolved National Assembly failed to evolve consensus on the name of caretaker prime minister, the matter is set to be taken up by the Parliamentary Committee comprising four members each of the recently dissolved government and the opposition.
PML-N leader and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif chaired an informal meeting of the party leaders on Tuesday to discuss the matters concerning caretaker setup in centre and provinces excluding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and finalised strategy in the backdrop of consultations going on with the PPP. The party concluded that the matter should go to the Parliamentary Committee.
As the deadline for the government and opposition to appoint a caretaker prime minister is expiring at midnight on Tuesday, the PML-N has put forward the names of Sardar Mehtab Abbasi, Senator Parvez Rasheed, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Sardar Yaqoob Nasir as its members in the parliamentary committee.
Sources in the PML-N told Business Recorder that after expiry of the deadline, the matter regarding appointment of the caretaker prime minister will be referred to an eight-member bipartisan parliamentary committee, which would decide within three days as to who will be the interim prime minister. Sources claimed that the PML-N decided in principle to dissolve Punjab Assembly as soon as the issue of caretaker PM was decided.
It may be noted that the government side has already finalised four names namely Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Farooq H. Naek, Khurshid Shah and Ghulam Ahmed Bilour to represent in the committee to be formed by the speaker of the recently dissolved National Assembly. In case, the parliamentary committee also fails in deciding the name of caretaker prime minister the matter would be referred to the Election Commission of Pakistan, which would decide the name within two days.
Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told media that the PPP wanted to bargain on the issue of the interim set up. He said that if the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader failed to evolve consensus on any name for the care-taker Prime Minister, the Parliamentary Committee would have to face difficulties in resolving the issue within three days, paving the way for referring the matter to the Election Commission for a final decision.
The PML-N has given four names for the Parliamentary Committee as per requirements of the Constitution, he added. Nisar revealed that PPP had offered to PML-N many times to bargain for bringing its own set up in Punjab and allow PPP to bring its own set up at the Centre for the purpose of holding general elections. He emphasised that PML-N wanted such an impartial set up at the Centre and in the provinces which is acceptable to all parties in and outside the Parliament.
With regard to the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said his party would take a decision in this regard after consultation with its allies in Sindh and Balochistan. PML-N President Mohammad Nawaz Sharif will chair a meeting of the party on Wednesday (today) to take a decision on this important issue. Nisar alleged the PPP leaders were not taking the suggestions put by some other parties serious regarding caretaker prime minister. He said the PPP only believed in 'give and take policy' which is diametrically against the national interests.
He further said that the government had violated the spirit of the Constitution while moving forward for appointing caretaker governments in Balochistan and Sindh. To a query, Nisar said that the PML-N was in favour of holding general elections both in national and provincial assemblies on the same day.
When asked to comment on the reservations of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, he said the name of former justice Shakirullah Jan was withdrawn on the basis of 'certain evidences.' Meanwhile, in another important political development, Punjab Governor Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mahmood left for Islamabad in the evening to have consultation with the President Asif Ali Zardari.
On the other hand, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Asma Jahangir turned down the offer to become caretaker Punjab Chief Minister. PPP had proposed the names of Asma Jahangir, Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa and Mian Aamir Mehmood for the slot of caretaker CM. Speaking to the media in Lahore, Asma Jahangir said that the issue of caretaker setup should be resolved through consultations. She declined to take any responsibility in the caretaker setup.